"We can't resolve our traffic problems unless we can control
when the roads are repaired and when they are not." -- Metro Council member
John Delgado.

Last April, the Center for Planning Excellence, on behalf of East Baton Rouge city-parish government, gave Baton
Rouge a glimpse of how the city's quality of life could be better if Government
Street was a pedestrian and bike friendly thoroughfare.

CPEX officials, over a spring weekend, temporarily reduced
the number of lanes, to three, from four, on a Mid City stretch of Government, adding
more space for walkers and cyclists. They also threw in temporary pop-up
stores, kids activities and other attractions; all designed to let residents to
experience what it would be like if Government focused more on foot traffic and
less on cars -- if only for a day.

The event was a success, drawing between 1,500 and 2,000
people on a Saturday. The mixed transportation concept also drew support from
key political figures in Baton Rouge, including Mayor Kip Holden, who pedaled
to the Mid City demonstration on a bike.

But this vision for Government Street, born out of a series of CPEX-led public workshops, requires several
changes to the road itself. It would go from two lanes to one lane of
traffic in each direction, with a landscaped neutral ground in the middle of
the street. There would be "turn pockets" in the green space for vehicles that needed to
turn left off of Government as well as bike lanes and wider sidewalks.

The reality of who owns Government slams headfirst into the
vision. The mayor and Metro Council, which have expressed support for the proposal,
lack the authority to make the changes. Government Street may run through the
heart of Baton Rouge, but, like so many other roads in East Baton Rouge Parish,
it's owned by the state. And cash-strapped Louisiana, already facing a $12
billion road backlog, lacks the money to fund Government's transformation.

Local governments across Louisiana don't oversee many of the
thoroughfares in their own jurisdictions. The state government, with its
sprawling constituency and lengthy priority list, is in control of much of the
local transportation network, including Government Street. State transportation
officials' priorities tend to be about large bridges and interchanges, things
that could help thousands of trucks and cars move more freely on a daily basis.
The state doesn't necessarily care about making an urban corridor, albeit a
significant one, more pedestrian friendly.

That can leave the local governments like the Baton Rouge
Metro Council in a lurch when it comes to making sweeping changes, such the
ones proposed by the Center for Planning Excellence.

"People just assume Government Street is under our
jurisdiction," said Metro Council member Tara Wicker. "Before I became a
council woman, I thought the same thing."

The state is trying to change the dynamic around roads. Two
years ago, the Legislature enacted a law to "right-size" the state highway
system. It developed a program to try and transfer approximately 5,000 miles of
state roads to local parishes and cities.

Transportation officials want to bring Louisiana's
percentage of state highways more in line with the country's norm. At 27
percent, Louisiana owns a larger share of its streets than 40 other states. But if it successfully sheds 5,000 miles, Louisiana
would be closer to the national average of 19 percent state-road ownership.

The roads transfer is entirely voluntary, though the
Department of Transportation and Development lures local governments into the
program with enticing benefits.

Parish and city governments receive credits equal to the amount
of money the state would have spent on 40 years of maintenance for a street
when they take it over. The local government can use this credit to fund
capital construction projects, which parishes and cities typically don't have
the financing to launch. Roads in bad
condition, like Government Street, would also have to be fixed before the state
transferred control of them to a city or parish

The deal sounds promising to Baton Rouge, where traffic congestion
is among the most pressing concerns. Officials said the extra money the roads
transfer could bring to the city for transportation construction projects would
be a huge boon to the area.

"The program is attractive because of the credits the parish
can receive. Funding is always an issue when it comes to infrastructure," said
David Guillory, director of Baton Rouge's Department of Public Works.

The ability for local government to be able to decide what
road gets widened, or fixed first would help improve local traffic. The city
will no longer have to defer to the state's judgment when it comes to
transportation projects.

"We can't resolve our traffic problems unless we can control
when the roads are repaired and when they are not," said Metro Council member
John Delgado. "Right now, we are still dependent on the state and that affects
our overall traffic plan for the entire city-parish."

Guillory expects to make a formal proposal about the roads
transfer to Mayor Kip Holden and the Metro Council this month. But he said
it's still up in the air regarding just how much of the state roads network
will come under the city's authority.

"I can tell you that we don't know how many roads we want to
transfer yet," he said.

Louisiana has put more than half of its East Baton Rouge
roads on the table. If the mayor and Metro Council were to accept the state's
full offer, Baton Rouge would acquire approximately 175 miles of new streets to
manage.

If Baton Rouge absorbs all of the state roads offered, the
city would increase its capacity for new transportation construction projects,
but it would also be assuming the responsibility – and the cost – for
maintaining those roads in the future. The city would have to allocate a much
larger sum of revenue to road maintenance than it does now, said Guillory.

"At some point in the future, the amount of money we are pulling down [for
roads maintenance] will probably have to change, but we are probably talking
about 10 or 15 years from now," he said.

The shifting of the road maintenance costs from state to
local government was, of course, one of the primary goals of the program.
Legislators passed the roads transfer law, in part, to
try and free up more money for infrastructure projects.

"We are interested in being more of a construction
department and less of an operation and maintenance department," Eric Kalivoda,
deputy secretary for the Department of Transportation and Development.

In general, the state's transportation department has pushed
to unload more urban corridors than rural roads onto local governments.
Officials mostly want to retain control over highways that serve as major
routes for the states ports, interstate commerce and the agricultural sector.

"If the road simply functions to move people around in an urban area, then that
doesn't need to be a state highway," said Kalivoda.

Even if Baton Rouge doesn't end up absorbing all the state
roads up for grabs, Guillory said he is fairly confident the city will acquire
at least three corridors -- Government
Street, Nicholson Drive and River Road. Staff is interested in making these thoroughfares
work better for cars, pedestrians and cyclists.

With at least some of the credits earned from the roads
transfer, the city will also be looking to add an interchange at Pecue Lane and
Interstate 10 between the Highland Road and Siegen Lane exits. Guillory said
the area is a chokepoint for traffic and needs some congestion relief.

Of course, the credits could also be used to help transform
Government Street into the vision presented by the Center for Planning
Excellence last spring. The city
government has already shown a willingness to embrace that concept in some of
its planning documents.

"We are eager for the [roads] transfer to take place and
things to happen with regards to Mid City," said Camille Manning Broome, senior
vice president at the Center for Planning Excellence.